Back to basics The sound of distant drums let me know it was Sunday morning in Kenya. As I sipped my morning coffee and awaited my breakfast, the early worship services (dawn) for those who work on Sunday were beginning in the surrounding communities. It was a prophetic preamble to the ministry day ahead. I didn’t know where we were going until I climbed into the LandCruiser. Richard said we are on our way to Kiminini, our newest church. I had heard the name but never preached in the...

Trying to do too much. Well, there’s three sports cliches to get you started. If you haven’t figured out by the headlines, things did not go as expected in Uganda. I have seen what happened today in Uganda happen a thousand times at baseball games. A hitter comes to the plate, the moment is bigger than he is used to. And he takes a huge home-run hack. Problem is, he’s not a power hitter. Oh, he’s a good hitter. He hits singles and doubles, gets runners in and scores lots of runs for...

Looking at my future. I watched the old pastor with his Bible so close it almost touched his nose. He hobbled in on a hand carved African cane. As soon as he took his seat he retrieved his Bible and notebook from the small sling pouch he carried over his shoulder. We were 45 minutes from starting, but he was ready. I thought I heard a voice say, “I wonder….will you peer in so deeply when you are so old and frail?” I promptly reminded the Holy Spirit that I was the keynote preacher...

Throw-back Tuesday The upgrade I’m talking about is the new road to the Training Center on Mount Elgon. It is the upgrade to my faith that came yesterday. The road to Mount Elgon has been my “thorn in the flesh” for over 20 years now. I dare not calculate the hours I have spent winching out of the mud or being pulled up the mountain by a local farmer’s tractor. I have prayed, and prayed, and prayed, and planned, and connived, and tried to figure out how in the world we could get the...

Throw-back Tuesday I woke in Nairobi to a cool, gentle rain. It would have been a perfect day to open the patio doors, pull the covers back up and do one final battle with the last bits of jet lag. But, today is a travel day. A short flight up to Eldoret and then the dreaded Kenyan roads from Eldoret to Kitale. It is only 78 kilometers, but the trip will take at least two hours. An inexperienced driver will destroy the vehicle’s suspension and finish off the few functional discs that...

Faith fans the flame of imagination. O.K. I might as well come clean with you. I spent the day in a slum in Kenya hanging out with three gorgeous young “runway models.” They wanted to play make believe. I said, I am your guy. I told them that when my grandkids came to visit, we had a playroom upstairs that was filled with costumes and props. The bonus room above my garage has been a restaurant, a train station, a race car pit at Daytona. Transformed by a few props and a lot of...

The power of a testimony. The service this morning in Tasia (Nairobi, Kenya) was hijacked. Not by the woman giving her testimony. But, by God. As Pastor Harrison called the lady forward to share her story I was a little bit anxious. I was a youth pastor for a long time. I’ve seen some wild stuff happen when you hand a microphone to an untrained, regular old church member. And, as my Kenyan brothers put it: time was not on our side. Services often get long in Kenya. And, I’m always up...

Dialogue or monologue? I had some fun with my translator today. Pastor Kennedy (Mathare Schooloverseer) is a top shelf translator. But, he couldn’t find the Swahili word forSelah. I let him flounder a bit until I got the crowd involved in trying to helphim translate the un-translatable. Selah doesn’t translate. It is a musicalterm in Psalms. It is instruction to the musician, worshipper, or in today’ssermon the one praying to…pause and listen. The safari of my soul The pace of life...

Home safe without a single travel hitch! Unless you fly a lot these days, you really can’t appreciate what a “God-statement” that is. We pushed back form the gate 30 minutes late in Paris this morning.  That could have/should have made me miss my last flight leg from Atlanta to Little Rock.  Clearing customs and rechecking bags in Atlanta. can be a night mare.  Believe me when I say there was not one single person in line when I turned the corner...

Every stop we celebrate new disciples trained. At our leadership dinner Saturday night I found out that today was graduation day at Joy Celebration Center. Agnes wanted to surprise me. She said shecould not think of a better surprise for me than to present 25 newly trained disciples. I couldn’t agree more! Agnes and her late husband Pastor Peter, got the discipleship model right off the bat. As soon asGod relocated them to Kisumu from Eldoret, they got busy about the business of planting...